1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for inspecting a performance of array ultrasound transducer, and more particularly to a system for inspecting a performance of an array ultrasound transducer, which can selectively evaluate acoustic power, radiation conductance, uniformity of the acoustic power or the radiation conductance, and uniformity of sound pressure sensitivity according to a variety of uses (e.g., oscillation, reception, or oscillation/reception) of the array ultrasound transducer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, ultrasound transducers have been widely used as devices or components which convert an electric signal into an ultrasound signal or convert the ultrasound signal into the electric signal. A representative example of the ultrasound transducer is an array ultrasound transducer capable of geometrically arranging a plurality of ultrasound transducers in the form of an appropriate arrangement, thereby forming a desired sound field.
There are a variety of application devices of the array ultrasound transducer, for example, an ultrasound diagnostic system (also called an ultrasound imaging system), an ultrasound treating/operating system, an ultrasound non-destructive evaluation system, a household- or personal-ultrasound system, an ultrasound physical property measurement system, and an industrial ultrasound system, etc.
In more detail, the ultrasound diagnostic system includes an ultrasound imaging diagnostic device, an ultrasound Doppler diagnostic device, an ultrasound bone densitometer, an ultrasound angiography system, an ultrasonic rheometer, a fetal ultrasound imaging system, an ultrasound coronary angiography system, an ultrasound cerebral angiography, and an ultrasound pulse diagnosis system, etc.
The ultrasound treating/operating system for use in a variety of treating/operating purposes includes an ultrasound stimulator, an ultrasound extra-corporal shockwave lithotripsy device, an ultrasound intra-corporal shockwave lithotripsy device, an ultrasound vitreous aspiration and cutting instrument, an ultrasound crystalline-lens cutting device, an ultrasound operating instrument, and an ultrasound aspiration instrument, etc.
The ultrasound non-destructive evaluation system for evaluating safety of a variety of objects (e.g., buildings, bridges, and materials) includes an ultrasound scanning device, an ultrasound thickness measurement device, an ultrasound flaw detector.
The household- or personal-ultrasound system includes an ultrasound dish washer, an ultrasound humidifier, a personal ultrasound stimulator, and a personal ultrasound skin cosmetic device.
The ultrasound physical property measurement system for measuring the physical property of various materials (e.g., solid, liquid, and gas) includes an ultrasound sound speed measurement device, an ultrasound attenuation coefficient measurement device, and an ultrasound elastic coefficient measurement device, etc.
The industrial ultrasound system using high-intensity ultrasound signals includes an ultrasound abrasive cutoff device, an ultrasound welding machine, an ultrasound emulsifier, an ultrasound sonicator, a ultrasound cleaner for glasses, a megasonic ultrasound cleaner, and an ultrasound cutting machine, etc.
Particularly, the ultrasound diagnosis system, the ultrasound non-destructive evaluation system, and the ultrasound physical property measurement system are employing all of the oscillation ultrasound transducer, the reception ultrasound transducer, and the oscillation/reception ultrasound transducer. The ultrasound treating/operating system, the household- or personal-ultrasound system, and the industrial ultrasound system are employing only the oscillation ultrasound transducer.
The above-mentioned array ultrasound transducer has been configured by the combination of general ultrasound transducers, such that its overall performance is dependent on performances of the ultrasound transducers.
As can be seen from the following Table 1, the general ultrasound transducer (also called a single ultrasound transducer) employs a plurality of performance evaluation parameters to evaluate performance. The oscillation ultrasound transducer evaluates a variety of parameters, for example, acoustic power, radiation conductance, sound field (sound pressure or acoustic intensity) spatial distribution, etc.
The reception ultrasound transducer evaluates the sound pressure sensitivity. The oscillation/reception ultrasound transducer evaluates the relative sound pressure sensitivity.
Although the performance evaluation parameters for the above-mentioned ultrasound transducers must also be applied to the array ultrasound transducer, only some parts of evaluation parameters for evaluating performances of the current array ultrasound transducer are being evaluated as shown in the following Table 1, the oscillation ultrasound transducer is unable to evaluate the acoustic power, the radiation conductance, and the uniformity of the acoustic power or the radiation conductance, the reception ultrasound transducer is unable to evaluate the uniformity of the acoustic power or the radiation conductance, and the oscillation/reception ultrasound transducer is unable to evaluate the uniformity of the acoustic power or the radiation conductance.
TABLE 1Single ultrasoundArray ultrasoundtransducertransducerOscillationAcoustic powerSound field spatialRadiation conductancedistributionSound field spatialdistributionReceptionSound pressureSound pressuresensitivitysensitivityOscillation/Relative sound pressureRelative soundReceptionsensitivitypressure sensitivityUniformity of Relativesound pressuresensitivity